WAVERLY, Iowa – Competing in its first regional final, the top-seeded and No. 24-ranked St. Olaf College softball team was defeated 3-0 by the second-seeded and No. 20-ranked University of St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon at Lynes Field.

Kendall Hopkins and Kierstin Anderson-Glass combined to throw a three-hit shutout for St. Thomas (32-8), which won the regional to advance to the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship finals site in Salem, Va. next week. St. Olaf (26-8), which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996, saw its season come to an end two wins shy of a regional championship.

Following the tournament, senior Julie Graf and junior Tarah DeCroock were named to the nine-player All-Tournament Team. Graf was 1-2 with a 1.83 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 23.0 innings in the circle over the Oles' four games at the regional. DeCroock was 4-for-12 with two walks, two runs, and three RBI, including the decisive two-run home run in St. Olaf's 2-0 win over Coe on Saturday.

Needing just one win to claim the regional title, St. Thomas plated a run in the bottom of the first on a two-out single by Kierstin Anderson-Glass to get out to an early lead. Anderson-Glass drove in pinch-runner Abby Gray who stole second and got to third on a swinging strikeout before the single.

In the top of the second, St. Olaf put together a two-out threat thanks to an error and a hit batter, but Annie Landon was called out of the box as she slapped what was bound to be a single up the middle.

With the score still 1-0, the Tommies generated a two-out scoring opportunity of their own, filling the bases with two outs on a single, an error, and a walk, but Graf got a pop out to escape trouble. St. Thomas added a pair of insurance runs on back-to-back bases-loaded walks with two outs in the fourth.

Graf broke up Hopkins' bid for a no-hitter with a one out single in the fifth and, after Anderson-Glass came in to pitch, Landon followed with a single to put two runners on with one out. Anderson-Glass got the final two batters of the frame to strand a pair of runners.

Down by three runs, St. Olaf got a leadoff single from Hannah Matthies in the sixth before Anderson-Glass retired the next six batters to record the save. Hopkins improved to 9-1 on the season with 4.1 innings of one-hit ball before turning the ball over to Anderson-Glass for the final eight outs.

The Oles' 26 wins this spring were the program's second-highest total since 1998, as head coach Kayla Hatting's team qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history. St. Olaf won its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season title since 1996 after going a program-best 20-2 in conference play during the regular season.

Five of the Oles' eight losses this season came to St. Thomas. The loss brought an end to the careers of seniors Kaelin Sbrocco, Ally Bode, Julie Graf (fifth year), and Hannah Matthies.  After 18-straight seasons at .500 or worse, St. Olaf went 109-53 (.672) during Graf's career and 83-41 (.669) over the careers of Sbrocco, Bode, and Matthies.